


There are Places I've Never Been and Always Wanted to Go (or maybe not)

by jane_with_a_j



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Historical Characters (mentioned), Ineffable Husbands Week 2019, M/M, Memories, drinking and talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 01:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20556290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_with_a_j/pseuds/jane_with_a_j
Summary: The world hasn't ended.  That's cause for celebration!  Maybe a little vacation?  Find a nice spot they've never been before, and explore it together.Problem is, when you've been on Earth as long as Aziraphale and Crowley have, there aren't a lot of places left that they haven't seen.In the attempt to find somewhere to go, they learn a few things about each other that they hadn't known before.





	There are Places I've Never Been and Always Wanted to Go (or maybe not)

**Author's Note:**

> For Ineffable Husbands Week, day 6: Destination

“Madagascar?”

“Course I've been to Madagascar,” said Crowley. “Loads of times. You should see the plant life there. Nothing in this world like it since the Garden itself. Eight hundred some-odd species of orchid. And the palm trees, the palm trees are like... like palm trees that... don't grow anywhere else.”

“Hm,” said Aziraphale, studying the globe that sat on Crowley's desk.

The world hadn't ended, and Aziraphale and Crowley had decided to celebrate by visiting some part of it that they hadn't seen before. The problem, as it turned out, was that finding interesting places neither of them had visited in the six thousand years they'd been on the planet was more difficult than they'd anticipated. They were already on their third bottle of wine, and no closer to finding a new place to visit than they'd been when they'd started. They had already ruled out every major city in Asia and Africa, every Caribbean island, every remotely interesting part of every European country, every American state, Australia, New Zealand, all of South America, and about six dozen other places besides.

“Let me try,” said Crowley. With a flick of his wrist, he levitated the globe and gave it a spin. “I have never been to...” the spinning stopped as he tapped the globe in a random spot. “Huh,” he said. “Prince Edward Island.”

“Really?”

“I take it you have?”

“Well, yes.”

“Should've guessed you wouldn't pass up a chance to visit Green Gables.”

“Tease me if you like,” said Aziraphale, “but you would have loved Maud. Fascinating woman.” He sighed. “Deserved better than she got from life.” He took the globe from Crowley and ran his finger across the North American continent. “Have you been to the Yukon?”

“Wha?” said Crowley. “You mean I never told you about my Klondike days?”

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow. “You most certainly have not,” he said.

“Huh,” said Crowley. “Hang on. Got a picture here somewhere.” He got up and started rummaging through his desk drawers. “Ah,” he said, “here it is.” He handed Aziraphale a frame containing a colourized black-and-white photograph of two stunning redheads, bedecked in chiffon and feathers. “That's me and Klondike Kate, up in Dawson City” he said. “She was something else.” He grabbed the wine bottle and refilled his glass. “Terrible singing voice,” he said. “Just dreadful. But sweet Satan, it didn't matter one bit. The woman had _style_.”

Aziraphale stared at the photo. “I can't believe you've never shown me this before,” he said.

Crowley grinned. “You like it?”

Aziraphale looked from Crowley to the photo and back again. “If I say yes, can I keep it?”

“No,” said Crowley. “S'mine. But I'll make you a copy if you like.”

Aziraphale reluctantly handed back the photo. “Any other ideas of places we could go?” he asked.

“Blessed if I know,” said Crowley. “Rate we're ruling places out, we're going to end up vacationing in Antarctica.”

“Um,” said Aziraphale.

“No,” said Crowley.

“Well...”

“When the bloody Heaven did you go to _Antarctica?_”

“1901,” said Aziraphale.

“So I wasn't the only one who went running off to some cold, remote place to forget my troubles,” said Crowley.

“You could say that,” said Aziraphale.

“Antarctica, though?” Crowley dropped down onto his ornate chair. “I'm having trouble picturing you on a polar expedition.”

“The food _was_ quite dreadful,” said Aziraphale. “But we entertained ourselves by staging amateur theatrical productions which were rather fun. And there was so much to learn. We found a penguin colony, you'd have loved that. The men really were a fine example of humanity's potential. There was some drama among the officers, of course, there always is, but the crew were splendid fellows. The camaraderie, the zeal for discovery... when we returned home, they gave us all medals, you know.”

“So it was all worth it?”

“Well,” said Aziraphale. “I'm not saying I'd do it again, mind you. Running off to Antarctica was, perhaps, a _bit_ melodramatic. And as I said, the food was dreadful. Plus, we got stuck in the ice rather longer than expected. I had to use up a few good miracles to get us out, in the end. But I'm glad to have been a part of it.” He picked up his glass. It was empty. “None of this,” he said, “has gotten us any closer to deciding where we should go together.” He sighed. “It was a nice idea, I suppose. But it seems there isn't a single place on this entire planet that neither of us has ever been.”

Crowley had picked up his phone and was scrolling through his news feed. “I think I found one,” he said.

“Oh?”

“New wine bar. Just opened last week. Ten minutes from here.”

“I hardly think that counts.”

“Why not? It's brand new. Neither of us has been.” He handed Aziraphale the phone. “Reviews are good, look.”

“My dear, by that standard-”

“You don't want to go?”

The bar had a copy of the wine list right there on its website.

“Well,” said Aziraphale. “I didn't say _that_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so. This is my first attempt at a fic with references to actual verifiable historical stuff. I had to leave out a few things I would have liked to include that would have left the timelines a bit of a mess, but I think what's left works.
> 
> So, first. I figure the turn of the 20th century would have been a rough time for Aziraphale. If we go with the fandom assumption that he was close with Oscar Wilde, he'd have certainly been pretty broken up over Wilde's exile and his death in 1900. At that point, too, Aziraphale hadn't seen or spoken to Crowley since they'd parted on bad terms decades earlier. Running (or sailing) as far away as you can go when you're grieving and lonely is a dramatic move, but it's hardly a rare one. The Discovery Expedition sailed in 1901, and didn't return home until 1904. (Crowley, meanwhile, had been sleeping away his sorrows for a few decades and then ran off to the Yukon to stir up some trouble in the dance halls of Dawson City, or so I'm imagining.)
> 
> Second and third. Aziraphale was friends with Lucy Maud Montgomery, and Crowley was friends with Klondike Kate Rockwell. That's not my opinion, that's facts, that is.
> 
> (Lucy Maud Montgomery knew a thing or two about hopelessly longing for an unsuitable man. Also! In her novel The Story Girl, the title character tells her friends a sweet little tale about forbidden love between two angels, who build a bridge across the stars so that they can be together, which angers all of the other angels, who go and tattle on them to God. If you, person-who-reads-Good-Omens-fanfiction, enjoy stories about star-crossed celestial lovers, you should check it out. The novel is free to read online, and the story is near the end of chapter 10. Read it and tell me Aziraphale doesn't get all misty-eyed whenever he picks up that book.)
> 
> I think my Canadian-ness is showing a lot in this one, and now after all of my blathering about Dawson City and LM Montgomery, I'm about to add that the title of this fic is from the song "Fly" by the Tragically Hip. (No word on whether Aziraphale and Crowley have ever been to Mistaken Point, Newfoundland or Moonbeam, Ontari-ari-o, though.)


End file.
